The Lightspeed POS is popular: It’s used by 50,000 businesses worldwide and processes 15 billion dollars’ worth of transactions annually. The comprehensive software can be used for retail and restaurant operations, with omnichannel features allowing online sales to be integrated with in-person orders. It offers robust features, multiple channels for 24/7 support, and a user interface that’s easy to navigate.

Our review unpacks the main features to expect from the Retail version of Lightspeed POS. We’ll then touch on what features set the Lightspeed Restaurant POS system apart, before examining the support options to expect from Lightspeed and how its price plans work.

Lightspeed POS: Core Features

Sales

Lightspeed POS users can create or search for a customer profile, before inputting the items they’re buying or simply scanning them with a barcode scanner. Once ready, the employee can ring up the order for credit, debit, check, cash, PayPal or a combination. Then the staffer can either print or email the receipt.

Customers

Customers can be tracked via Lightspeed’s suite of CRM tools, allowing stores to give individual customers status like “VIP” or “regular” and to create email lists for targeted marketing campaigns. Their sales history allows managers to make smart decisions about which items are most popular, or which future purchases to suggest to a specific customer. Support for a customer loyalty or gift card program is also available.

Inventory

Items can be quickly imported from a CSV or Excel file, and users can add additional style, size, and color specifications to each item. In addition, pre-loaded catalogs available on the Lightspeed POS allow users to restock their inventory directly from the system. Inventory can also be checked from the mobile app while on the go.

eCommerce Integrations

A single store inventory can be sold both in-person and through an online storefront, for a consistent brand experience. Customer data can be tracked across both channels as well, giving managers an accurate picture of their shopping habits. Websites can be set up easily through Lightspeed, thanks to ready-made templates offered. Integrations make selling directly through Facebook possible as well.

Reports

Data about customer and employee habits can be tracked and logged. This means over time, trends will appear in the data, allowing managers to make intelligent decisions, with specific insights on factors including which employees clock in and out on time, which customers buy the most, and which items sell best on which day of the week. Accounting data can be automatically processed with integrations available from Lightspeed and all reports can be exported to PDF or Excel.

Restaurant POS

Lightspeed’s restaurant POS offers a broad range of restaurant-specific tools, from an inventory that tracks individual ingredients, to a floor plan that lets servers locate the right customer at the right time, to a customizable menu that incorporates photos as well as descriptions. Table-side service is a highlight: With Lightspeed Restaurant, servers can take orders and send them to the kitchen while standing at the customer’s table.

Lightspeed Restaurant is a popular POS option for the industry, but you can easily check out its competition by reading through TechCo’s roundup of the top ten restaurant POS systems available now.

Lightspeed POS Plans and Pricing

Lightspeed’s most popular Retail POS plan starts at $99/store/month, billed annually. It includes one register and up to five employee accounts in addition to the retail features listed above, cloud-based data backup, software updates, onboarding, and 24/7 support. The software needed to establish an online store is available for an additional monthly price.

Lightspeed’s most popular Restaurant POS plan starts at $69/store/month, billed annually. It includes one register, along with data backup, updates, and live onboarding and support.

The Verdict

Lightspeed is a recommended POS system. Lightspeed’s price is a little above the norm for the POS industry, but its strong features, ease of use, and support team more than make up for it. It’s a good choice for a small, mid-size or large business that needs a high-quality POS system.